Baked Parmesan Kale and Chard Chips

    

Before

After

I deiced to post this recipe after I got a shock from my incredibly picky daughter.  She loves kale chips. This is the first time in months she has willing and knowingly eaten anything green.  These are incredibly simple and easy to make.  You will also save a lot of money.  There are just three simple ingredients, which for at least me, I always have at home.  The most I have seen kale for is two dollars   and you can make a lot of chips with just one head.  I have seen a small bag of kale chips in stores for four dollars.  

These chips are best right out of the oven but will stay good for about two days in a paper bag.  I usually just make kale chips but I wondered if it would work with other dark leafy greens.  Rainbow chard looked good at the farmers market so I deiced to mix it with the kale.  While I still like kale the best the chard was pretty tasty also.  My daughter ate both very happily. 

This recipe is very flexible.  I start out at 300 degrees because I find that it is the best temperature for me.  These chips can burn very fast and quoting Alton Brown is not "Good Eats".  I find that at this temp it gives me some leeway if I am chasing down one of my children I can make it to the oven without them being over done.  I have gone as low as 280 and as high as 350.  It all depends on how closely you want to watch it and how your oven is acting on that day.  If you do chose a higher temp it would be best to check on them at about four minutes at first a couple of minutes after that.  Another thing I did because I hate doing dishes with a passion I cover a baking sheet with foil.  Then I add a sheet of parchment paper just to make sure there is no sticking to the pan. If I am not stuffing them in my mouth right away place the done chips on a paper towel and let cool before storing.  I never seem to have this problem though.  Between my daughter and I we usually devour them pretty quickly.

Time: 12-15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Kale or dark leafy greens
• Olive Oil
• Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. Make sure oven rack is in middle position
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
3. Remove stems and tear into desired size pieces(they will shrink)
4. Wash and dry
5. In a bowl add greens, drizzle with enough olive oil to coat, and cheese
6. Mix until evenly coated
7. Place a single layer on a baking sheet
8. Cook for 6 minutes then flip and bake an additional 6 minutes or until chips are free from any moisture.  
9. Enjoy : )

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes around 43 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt *see note

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. In a small bowl mix flour, salt, baking soda
3. Cream butter and white/brown sugar
4. Add peanut butter
5. On low add eggs one at a time then once incorporated add vanilla
6. Add flour mixture 
7. Add chocolate chips
8. Drop a spoonful on baking sheet
9. Bake for 9 minutes and light brown.

Notes:

• Depending on the type of peanut butter you may not need salt.  I used a creamy natural that had salt added already so I omitted it.  
• You may want to bake only a couple at first so you can adjust the bake time is needed.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Ingredients/prep:

• Cake mix
• Ice cream cones see note for waffle cones
• Frosting homemade or store
• Muffin Tin
• Optional: sprinkles, piping bag, #2110(1M) tip

Steps:

• For wafer cones make a ring around cupcake to help secure them  
• Prepare cake batter as directed
• Fill one cone about 3/4 the way full and bake for 20 minutes. (it is easier doing it this way so you can make the appropriate adjustments for the rest. Also you don't want them to overflow, it causes one big mess.)
• Once they are done let them cool and decorate as you wish.

Notes:

• When you bake either the waffel of wafer coins they loss some of their crunch.  For the wafer cones it really int that bad.  However for the waffel cones I would recommend serving these as soon as possible.  
• For the waffel cones I just made my own baking pan for them.  To do this I bought a foil roasting pan.  Just about any kind will do, I just got what was on sale and big enough for the cones.  Then I poked holes in it big enough to hold the coins straight up.  If the holes end up to big you can put foil in them.

Homemade Marshmallows from Alton Brown

Homemade Marshmallows on the Food Network

This is the best recipe for delicious homemade marshmallows.  It is super simple and your patience will be rewarded.